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Hot August Night (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks, Live]

Neil DiamondAudio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)

Price: $17.41 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Audio CD, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks, 2000 $17.41  
Vinyl, Original recording, Limited Edition, 1978 --  

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Biography

Five decades into his career, Neil Diamond has finally made the album of his dreams. Columbia Records is proud to release Dreams, a new 14-song collection of the legendary singer/songwriter's interpretations of his favorite songs of other composers from the rock era.

"You never know how long you've got and a lot of these songs have been waiting for me to record them for 40 ... Read more in Amazon's Neil Diamond Store

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Frequently Bought Together

Hot August Night (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) + Jonathan Livingston Seagull: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Price for both: $26.40

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (August 22, 2000)
  • Original Release Date: 1973
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Format: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks, Live
  • Label: Mca
  • ASIN: B00004WK2L
  • Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,800 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Disc: 1
1. Prologue
2. Crunchy Granola Suite
3. Done Too Soon
4. Dialogue
5. Solitary Man
6. Cherry Cherry
7. Sweet Caroline
8. Porcupine Pie
9. You're So Sweet
10. Red Red Wine
See all 17 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Play Me
2. Canta Libre
3. Morningside
4. Song Sung Blue
5. Cracklin' Rosie
6. Holly Holy
7. I Am...I Said
8. Soolaimon/Brother Love's Travelling Salvation (Encore)

Editorial Reviews

The 1972 double-live opus that cemented the legend of Neil Diamond. From the sweeping orchestral prologue to the rousing finale of Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show , it's the ultimate Neil Diamond experience. This reissue adds three bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews

Having said that this album is good, the next question is: just how good is it? Lonnie E. Holder  |  24 reviewers made a similar statement
A great recording of one of Neil Diamond's greatest live performances. W. Gum  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
104 of 107 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest Live Albums of All Time July 14, 2003
Format:Audio CD
The very first time I played "Hot August Night" was in the dark ages of 1973. I had heard that it was perhaps the best live album of all time. I have never been a live album fan, and still am not. However, "Hot August Night" could not have been done as anything other than a live album. The ambiance of the Greek Theater in Los Angeles was the perfect setting for a singer/songwriter who performs better as a travelling troubadour than a studio musician. As a more recent example of this assertion, watch the ending of "Born in East L.A." when Neil Diamond sings "Coming to America". The song coupled with the movie and the action is a perfect fit, but I find it difficult to enjoy the song as much as a cycled FM song without the movie.

Having said that this album is good, the next question is: just how good is it? Other reviewers have compared this album to the all time live-album king, Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive", which everyone seemed to own in the 1970s. This album is not as hard a rocker, but as noted elsewhere, "Frampton Comes Alive" feels dated when you listen to it today; "Hot August Night" sounds as good, if not better, than when it was first released.

The sound quality is beyond excellent, it is outstanding. When listening to live albums it's often tempting to adjust the equalizer to reduce annoying hisses or crowd noise or some error in the recording process. No need with this album. Leave the adjustments where they normally are for any pop-rock album.

The songs on this album are a best of the best of early Neil Diamond music. You could see every one of these songs as a potential hit in the 60s and 70s. In fact, many of them were. Those that weren't perhaps should have been....

Some highlights of this CD:

"Prologue" is one of the best intros to any album, ever. That is all the comment you need about the prologue.

The first CD is one excellent Neil diamond song after another. They are all good, many mellow. There are a few rockers too. "Crunchy Granola Suite", "Cherry Cherry", and "Porcupine Pie", which is silly, all have a fast pace. The other songs are bluesy and some have a country flavor.

The second CD is a combination of blues/soft rock and an excellent rock song, "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show", where Neil puts himself totally into his music. There is a lot of emotion on this second CD, and it is best listened to when you want to immerse yourself into a musical experience.

"Canta Libre", the second song on this CD, is reminiscent of Neil's songs on the "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" soundtrack. Very mellow, very beautiful.

The remaining songs are music as art. "Morningside", "Holly Holy", and "I Am...I said" are just a few of the emotional songs that make you long for the days when this music was young. Listening now to "Morningside", the emotions it generates are just awesome. Neil is in this song, living it...

Enough said. This CD is perhaps the best live album of all time. At the very least it is in the top 3. If you've ever found yourself singing along with any of Neil's early songs, buy this. You'll want to play it over and over. Read more ›

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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth The Price of Admission!!!!!! August 24, 2000
By BriSon
Format:Audio CD
28 years ago today, Neil walked onstage at the Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA. He took everyone for a walk down memory lane one last time and in the process recorded what would become the last look at Neil Diamond - Singer,Songwriter,Troubador,etc. He would take a sabbatical and emerge with the Jonathan Livinston Seagull Soundtrack. Truly a monumental peak in a mountain of accomplishments, Hot August Night is a rare recording that still holds up well today. The remastering is top notch and the inclusion of three bonus tracks-Walk on Water, Kentucky Woman and Stones are icing on a wonderfully multi-layered cake. The first time I heard these, I found myself applauding as a first time audience member. I have acquired this on almost every configuration released(I didn't own a 8 track). I would buy every show from these recordings if they released it. That is how entertaining this set is. The packaging is faithful to the original gatefold album including 2 pictures that have not seen daylight since 1973 or 1974 when they stopped pressing the gatefold in favor of the cheaper sleeve. It would've been complete with the album labels reproduced on the cds themselves but that is the only detail missing that I've noticed. Overall, I give this CD 100 stars out of five. If anyone attended these shows please contact me at my email. I would like to get more info about these shows!!!
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the all-time best live albums December 10, 2000
Format:Audio CD
Neil Diamond's greatest strength has always been his live performances, and "Hot August Night" is by far the best of the recorded shows. Production-wise, the sound is phenomenal--you would never guess that this was recorded twenty-eight years ago. The same goes for the stellar arrangements, which in many instances often surpass the original recorded versions of the songs (the most notable instance of this is "Holly Holy," which in its original version was rather soulless but on here flat out ROCKS). The orchestration adds rather than detracts--"Prologue" will give you a good idea of what to expect. There are too many highlights to list. If you're like a lot of people who think that Neil Diamond is just some middle-aged guy who bellows out sappy ballads and overly grandiose anthems while wearing really sparkly shirts, you've never heard this set, and you're about to have all your illusions shattered. It's that good. Period.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot August Night drips with energy. October 27, 2003
Format:Audio CD
Anyone else looking for real music should look at Neil Diamond. I am a Neil Diamond fan. My admiration for the Man, the Singer and his Music is unconditional. Being a product of the `70s rock culture, I never saw Neil Diamond as a rock artist. His songs came to me as folk, country, pop and some gospel. I guess this is the reason why I was able to adjust to Diamond's transition to musical progressions. I love his ballads and I just go crazy listening to them.

Hot August Night is probably the best live concert ever recorded. The intensity is sustained all throughout the performance, electrifying his audience and listeners alike, making this record drip with so much energy. The intro, "Prologue", is a killer tune. It is a masterpiece. Just listen to it build up to a climax as it gets layered into an atmosphere of strings, keyboards, acoustics and percussions (the sound is greatly improved on the remaster--crisp sounding). It is a majestic piece. Sure, Neil has those songs with corny titles and lyrics to it (i.e. "Soggy Pretzels", "You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hangin' Round Your Face", "Crunchy Granola Suite", "Porcupine Pie", and even "Song Sung Blue"), but aren't artist allowed to tease and have fun?

"I Am... I Said", "Morningside" and "Canta Libre" are some of the more emotional tracks of the set as Neil Diamond takes you to one moving song to another as he connects with his audience through songs and banter. While "Holly Holy" (a definite favorite of mine), and definitely the best version compared to the stale and thin sounding original studio recording off the Touching You, Touching Me album, sets the tone and pace as the show climaxes to a thunderous end to some of Neil's percussive moments on the album....

The beauty about Hot August Night is that all of the songs Neil performed are his original compositions. He got to do this again the last time when he recorded Love At The Greek after the Beautiful Noise album. In retrospect, I wish Neil also sang in this concert "High Rolling Man" (I love the piano riffs on this one), "Captain Sunshine" (beautiful lyrics and melody) and "Lordy" (beautiful melody and beat). Incidentally, I read years ago that the string section was used on this particular night only for the recording purposes of this show.

If you are a Neil Diamond fan but don't own Hot August Night yet, get it. It is worth more than the countless ridiculous ND greatest hits and compilations that are being released faster than you could say "You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hangin' Round Your Face". If you are not a Neil Diamond fan yet but are contemplating on becoming one, Hot August Night is definitely the best start for you (though In My Lifetime and Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings are also well recommended for their sheer historical overview of Neil Diamond`s music), mind you, this concert was recorded in 1972, so you should know what Neil Diamond songs to expect from that era--timeless classics. What were you expecting me to say?

As for Dave Barry's inclusion of "I Am.. I Said" to the "Worst Songs Ever" list, who cares? That is his opinion and he can keep it. Like most of us, we also have our opinions and "I Am... I Said" is a song with profound lyrical content--a true masterpiece. Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars great!
The album is great..the sound is fine , and sharp. I have waited for this album so long to be in cd.It was so good to hear Neil Diamond as if he had just done the concert. Read more
Published 14 hours ago by Ronnieb
5.0 out of 5 stars FABULOUS
LOVE NEIL DIAMONDS PERFORMANCE- It was the best of times- "I AM I SAID "touches me to the core- Music is feelings and he has got it-I have the vinyl and my daughter wants me to... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Suzanne Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars great
If you enjoy Neil Diamond, you will love this 2 CD set. Hot August Night is a great album that all should have.
Published 1 month ago by Joyce Woodward
1.0 out of 5 stars What a "ham" performance.
Neil Diamond pretending to be a rocker. For me it was painful to listen to. I didn't even play the second disc.
Published 1 month ago by C. A. Phipps
5.0 out of 5 stars If you can only get one .... get this one
If you can only get one Neil Diamond CD, this is THE one to get. I normally don't like live CD's but, I would only want this CD live. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cynthia
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Great collection of Neil's songs.
I have a lot of Neil's albums. Most of them are great - especially the older ones. It's hard to choose which is best; but I consider Hot August Night to be the very best even... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Loretta
5.0 out of 5 stars Crunchy Granola
I haven't heard this album since high school. It's an amazing performance. It's been a long time since I heard "Soggy Pretzels."
Published 4 months ago by Dave D.
5.0 out of 5 stars My First Album from My Teenage Years
Can you believe the way Neil Diamond looked in 1972! It is unbelievable the amount of GREAT songs that Neil Diamond had already wrote at such an early part of his career. Read more
Published 5 months ago by David Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars neil diamond hot august night re mastered
typical neil diamond quality. Have been watching his ny concert 2008 on optus, voice is not as strong so its good to hear what he was like
Published 5 months ago by hazel iveli
5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD
This CD arrived quicker than I had expected, and it was in excellent shape. I enjoyed listening to this when I was younger, and still enjoy it now.
Published 5 months ago by navy man
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